


It's Too Cold For This

by dragonbagel



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, and I love it, i think this is the most in character i've ever written rhys lol he's a fuckin nerd, this is literally just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-09
Updated: 2017-07-09
Packaged: 2018-11-30 00:12:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11451978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonbagel/pseuds/dragonbagel
Summary: Rhys and Sasha share a moment on the caravan roof, which would've been more romantic if Rhys wasn't freezing his ass off.(takes place during episode 3 of Tales)





	It's Too Cold For This

**Author's Note:**

> I know I usually write Rhack but uh, Handsome Jack and Rhys' relationship in Tales is abusive so in canon I don't fuck with it. Instead, Rhysha owns my soul.

It was fucking cold outside.

Rhys knew he was supposed to be researching more about this whole Gortys Project thing, but it was a bit hard to focus when every non-robotic part of his body felt like it was about to freeze and fall off. As he'd expressed to the Dream Team on multiple occasions, it was difficult to work when his circuits were getting frost bitten from being banished to the caravan's roof. For all he knew, there were probably icicles hanging off the tip of his nose, ruining his trademark "well-polished asshole" look. At least it was only Gortys and Loader Bot up here with him, and neither had a fashionable leg to stand on to criticize him; those two busted-up robots looked like they been repeatedly smashed by a psycho jacked up on caffeine. Now that he thought about it, that was probably exactly what had happened, although it still didn't serve as an excuse. The next time they passed a New You station, he'd have to convince Fiona to donate some of her pick-pocketed dough to helping out these charity cases.

"How's that research coming, Rhysie boy?"

Rhys jumped backwards, almost falling off the side of the hurtling vehicle's roof. He squinted into the darkness, the only illumination emitting from the blueish map projecting from his metallic palm.

"Looking for me?" a voice rang out from the shadows, sickly sweet in a dick-ish way.

Rhys rolled his eyes, although he was still panting from his almost near-death experience. "You scared the shit out of me."

"Aww, that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me," Jack cooed, his translucent blue form flickering into existence.

"And the research is going terribly, thanks for asking," Rhys snapped, although there was clearly an underlying tone of defeat.

"You know I offered to help," Jack said, his perfectly molded face downturning into an over-exaggerated frown. "But you rejected me."

"Yeah, I did," Rhys agreed, his cool composure now regained. "Because you're a fucking maniac."

"Such strong words," Jack fake-gasped, clutching his hand to his heart. "I'm hurt."

"You'll get over it," Rhys replied, returning his focus to the projected map of the old Atlas headquarters.

Using his human hand, he scrolled through the different layouts from the blueprints he'd downloaded. His vision was getting bleary from staring at the same floor plan he'd been looking at for almost a month, endlessly searching for an answer that he was quite certain didn't exist. He was exhausted, and would definitely be sleeping if it wasn't for his eyelids being frozen open.

Okay, his eyelids weren't frozen open. But it pretty much felt like they were.

"I should just quit," he muttered, wishing that Vaughn was here to remind him of how great he was rather than acting like a human coatrack inside. "This is pointless."

Jack floated on his side in front of Rhys, his head leaning into his hand and his lips pursed in an amused grin.

"Come on, that's no way to talk now. What will Sasha think when she finds out that big bad Rhys can't hack the most important program of this entire mission?" Jack snickered. "And a simple one, too."

Rhys groaned. "For the love of god, Jack, will you please shut the hell up? I've got everything under control. And besides, Sasha doesn't need to know about--"

"Sasha doesn't need to know about what?"

In the span of just a second, the roof hatch had popped off and taken Rhys' coolheadedness with it.

"S-Sasha," he stuttered, quickly closing his fist so that the evidence of his clearly unfinished work wasn't so obvious. "N-nothing, nothing important at all, ha."

Sasha's head emerged from the hatch, her characteristic headband replaced by a faded purple hat. A matching lilac scarf, equally ragged, obscured her neck from both the wind and Rhys' view.

"Can I come sit?" she asked, blinking at Rhys as if she expected him to topple over the edge.

"Oh, yeah, uh, sure," he said quickly, scooting over to make room.

She squatted down next to him, which in the minimal space meant that half of her oversized jacket just about rested in his lap. He fidgeted, his knobby knees knocking together as he tried to get into a more flattering position, or at least one that didn't show off his nonstop shivering. He could hear Jack laughing in the background, and shot a glare that he hoped Mr. Handsome would see.

"Um, are you okay?" Sasha asked, concerned.

"I'm great," Rhys replied, shooting her his million dollar grin.

When his teeth started to chatter again, he hastily raised his fist to his mouth and cleared his throat. "So, what brings you up here to my penthouse suite?"

"I was just checking on you," Sasha said, glancing at Rhys from the corner of her eye.

"Aww, don't tell me you're worried about me," he teased.

"You literally spend more time being dragged around unconscious than awake," she retorted.

Rhys paused, and his face fell back into seriousness. "Okay, I see your point."

"Anyways," she said in a brighter voice, moving a bit closer to him. "That's not the only reason I came out here."

"Really?" Rhys said, his heart skipping a beat.

"I wanted to see the stars."

The butterflies in Rhys' stomach immediately died and deflated. "Wait, what?"

"The stars," Sasha repeated, reaching to take Rhys' hand to point him in the right direction. "They're beautiful. See, right there's---"

Sasha broke off suddenly, her arm recoiling like someone had bitten it. Rhys briefly wondered if Jack had done something obnoxious to sabotage him, which wouldn't be too out of the ordinary.

"Shit, Rhys, your hand is freezing!"

"Huh?" Rhys said, looking down at the hand in question.

She reached her hand up to brush her fingers against Rhys' cheek, the electricity of which would have sent shivers down his spine if he hadn't already been vibrating from cold tremors like a plucked string. He leaned into her hand, into her warmth. A moment later, she pulled away, and Rhys' face molded itself back into its usual grimace.

"Here," Sasha said, shrugging her jacket off of her shoulders and draping it over Rhys.

He was about to protest but she pressed a finger to his lips before he could; he almost appreciated that, considering that the coat felt like the friendliest furnace in the world.

"Wait here," she said, disappearing back into the caravan's main compartment.

When the door reopened a few minutes later, Sasha was carrying a misshapen silver mug overflowing with steam. She returned to her spot next to him, holding out the glass. He gingerly took it, trying to squint through the darkness to discern the identity of its contents.

"What is it?" he asked, turning his flushed face towards Sasha.

She rolled her eyes. "Would you just shut up and drink it?"

"Fine," he said, his voice going down a few decibels. "But if I die, you're carrying my body with you to the Vault. I want my pretty face on every billboard, dead or alive."

"Rhys!" she snapped.

He held up a hand in surrender. "I'm going, I'm going."

Taking a deep breath, he lifted the mystery drink to his lips and took a sip. He rolled it around on his tongue for a moment, trying to figure out the taste. It was sweet, warm, dark. _Just like Sasha,_ a small voice in his head reminded him. For the love of god, he hoped it was Jack's dialogue, since he'd worked so hard to train himself to ignore mushy thoughts and feelings. But at the rate things were going, Sasha was about to mess all of that strenuous effort up-- not that he minded.

"Well?" Sasha asked impatiently.

"Hot chocolate," Rhys smiled. "You made me hot chocolate."

"'Made' is a strong word," she said. "I poured hot water over a pod."

She tugged at the edge of the coat that still hung over Rhys, pushing him over so that she could fit underneath it as well.

"But either way," she said, snuggling against him. "You're welcome."

Rhys rested his chin on top of her head, his cheeks reddening and his chest filling with embarrassingly warm fuzzies. At least he wasn't cold anymore. He wished he knew some sing-songy haikus like Zer0 that could charm the pants off her, but all he had was his less-than-charming internal monologue.

He sighed as he looked up at the sky, past Helios and into the space beyond it.

"I never thought I'd say this, but you're right," he said softly as Sasha looked up at him in surprise; humility wasn't one of his strongest traits. "The stars really are beautiful."

She inched closer to him, and he put his arm around her.

He pressed a kiss onto her forehead. "I think they must take after you."

**Author's Note:**

> comments/kudos are appreciated!  
> find me on tumblr [here](dragonbagel.tumblr.com)


End file.
